National Intangible Cultural Heritage West Lake Silk Umbrella

At this year's Spring Festival Gala, the program "Borrowing an Umbrella" left a deep impression on the audience. The actors' beautiful umbrellas have also attracted many people's attention. The reporter learned that this umbrella is the national intangible cultural heritage craft West Lake Silk Umbrella with "the flower of West Lake", and is the work of Mr. Song Zhiming, the national representative successor of West Lake Silk Umbrella.

Recently, Song Zhiming said in an interview that the uniqueness of the West Lake silk umbrella can be summarized as "opening an umbrella and closing a section of bamboo". It is a symbol of beauty and a presentation of exquisite craftsmanship. I hope more people can learn and inherit the West Lake silk umbrella.

It needs to be polished in 18 processes

The West Lake Silk Umbrella was founded in 1932. It is made of light bamboo and Hangzhou silk, which are unique in Hangzhou, and decorated with the scenery of the West Lake in Hangzhou. If you want to make a West Lake silk umbrella with unique shape and ingenious design, you must go through 18 processes, including umbrella bone making, umbrella surface decoration, and green restoration. Each process requires exquisite skills and strict requirements.

West Lake silk umbrellas are light in shape, ingenious in design, exquisite in production, elegant and beautiful. They are both practical and valuable for artistic appreciation. In 2008, the West Lake Silk Umbrella was included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

The main body of the West Lake Silk Umbrella is composed of the umbrella bone and the umbrella surface. The umbrella bone is made by the old nesting technique without any adhesive. The umbrella surface is made of silk and decorated with techniques such as brushing, painting and embroidery.

Since the 1970s, Song Zhiming has been making silk umbrellas for the West Lake. After the Spring Festival Gala, many people called him to ask about the West Lake silk umbrella in the program. He told the reporter of Beiqing Daily that the West Lake silk umbrella has been carefully polished through multiple processes, which is strong and elastic, and will not bend in the hot sun. The umbrella surface is made of Hangzhou's special silk, which is light and shiny, and painted with the West Lake scenery. "The umbrellas of the West Lake Silk Umbrella are made of light bamboos unique to the suburbs of Hangzhou. The diameter of light bamboos is about 5-6cm, and the distance between the knots is long, which is suitable for making umbrellas. After being made, the thickness of the umbrellas held by women is just right. This can't be done by other bamboos."

Customized West Lake Silk Umbrella for Spring Festival Gala

Song Zhiming told reporters that the director group of the Spring Festival Gala contacted them at that time and said that their West Lake silk umbrella was more suitable for a program, and he wanted to customize it for the actors. "It just said to use the umbrella, but it didn't say how to use it or where to use it. At that time, we guessed that it might be related to the West Lake, maybe it was dance. Until the end, we didn't think it would be related to the Legend of the White Snake."

According to Song Zhiming, they spent a lot of time on the umbrella in the program, and it took nearly 20 days to finish it. They considered a lot about the material and color selection of the umbrella surface. They communicated and adjusted with the program team many times. Considering the effect of the stage and the actual use, they finally decided to use electric spinning to make the umbrella surface. Because the color of the umbrella surface could not be confirmed at the scene, there would be color difference when shooting with mobile phones, so they sent samples back and forth with the program team for confirmation.

In addition, it took about a week to determine the pattern of the umbrella face. Song Zhiming said that they chose the pattern of three pools to print the moon, so that everyone could see the West Lake at a glance. The umbrella head has also been designed. The general West Lake silk umbrella also uses the umbrella head in the shape of the three pools printing the moon, but it is more abstract. The umbrella head of the West Lake silk umbrella for the Spring Festival Gala is specially designed. "We took pictures of the three pools printing the moon to design it, specifically for the Spring Festival Gala."

Song Zhiming told reporters that when Ye Tong and Zhao Yazhi finally opened their umbrellas, he was very excited. "I didn't expect that they would appear in such a way. Seeing the program, I felt that our persistence for so many years was not in vain. Our whole team was also very happy. Many students called me to say they were very happy. At a glance, I could see that it was the West Lake silk umbrella.

West Lake silk umbrellas are developing towards practicality

Song Zhiming said that after years of development, the West Lake Silk Umbrella has also kept pace with the times, but the soul of the umbrella has not changed, "New fabrics and new processes have been tried and used, and we have also combined with paper-cut, embroidery and other intangible cultural heritage processes, and cooperated with games and animation." In addition, the West Lake silk umbrella is also developing towards practicality, except the main materials remain unchanged, others can change, "mainly based on customer needs, such as the shape of the umbrella head can be matched according to the content of the umbrella surface."

Song Zhiming told reporters that their family are now making West Lake silk umbrellas, and they have also opened some training courses for more people to learn and experience making umbrellas. West Lake silk umbrellas are a symbol of beauty and a presentation of exquisite craftsmanship. "I hope that more people can learn and inherit West Lake silk umbrellas." (Reporter/Li Tiezhu, coordinator/Sun Huili)

(Source: Beijing Youth Daily)